Get In The Game is a new column by Dan Yarrington, managing partner of Myriad Games in Manchester and Salem, New Hampshire.  This week, talks about a simple program that can have a real impact on sales of new games.

Welcome back to to Get In The Game, a column that focuses on proactive ways we can improve the games industry.

There’s a potent promotional opportunity that’s starting to pick up steam in game stores.  It’s something that doesn’t require any new training, any new equipment, or any new industry infrastructure.  It increases excitement, brings customers into local stores, helps feature new games, and improves sales.  What is this magical tool?  It’s preview copies of upcoming games.  And it’s time we made it a regular part of promotion and sales in the games industry.

Now when I talk about preview copies of games, I’m not talking about those pale imitations of the final versions of upcoming games -- prototypes or partial demo packages.  In my experience, those do more harm than good since the potential buyers are not seeing the full package.  They’re seeing something worse than the final product, usually without all the bling to make it them feel it’s worth their ka-ching.   Those shadows of the final product may be cool if you’re into checking out bleeding-edge prototypes and are good at imaginative visualization.  It’s not good enough for most potential purchasers of the game in question.  No, I’m talking about actual production copies of the game -- the real thing -- only earlier.

These preview copies are coordinated and distributed 2-6 weeks before the game goes on sale in stores.  Participating venues register well in advance, sometimes pay a cost for the game and/or shipping, and the publisher promotes a specific event (a night or a weekend or a series of game days).  This builds buzz, adds another special benefit to local stores, and encourages players to check these games out in person, rather than just passing them by on a website or the shelf.  Generally the participating stores keep these copies in their game library to preview in-store, leading up to the actual launch.

Recent examples of this include: Fantasy Flight Games offering a Mansions of Madness preview event to allow stores to show the game in advance; Days of Wonder offering select stores the ability to preview Cargo Noir; AEG ordering a special printing of Nightfall to get preview copies into the hands of press and stores well before the release.  In our stores, all of these titles have benefited from increased sales because of the excitement generated at these events.  Going forward, we’ll see even more of these sorts of events.  Tasty Minstrel Games is offering preview copies of their upcoming deckbuilding game, Eminent Domain, releasing in May.  The details of how to qualify and sign up for each of these events vary depending on the publisher and the title, but they are share that important aspect -- the special preview status.

There are certainly challenges to implementing these preview events, but they are all easily surmountable.  How does the publisher cover the cost of air-shipping in all those copies of the game ahead of time?  Charge the participating stores a preview event participation fee (which includes the cost of the game) as done with Mansions of Madness.  What about stores that sell the games early?  They’re suspended from participating for an appropriate time period, as should always be the case with breaking street date.  How do you decide which stores get to participate?  Have stores apply and try to make the criteria as inclusive as possible.  As a publisher, you want stores professionally previewing your title and helping both of you sell more copies.  If the response is overwhelming and you have a limited budget or a limited supply, allocate by sign-up date, previous participation, region, or some other criteria.

A key ingredient of these events is that they enable local communities and social networks to experience and discuss the games while the excitement of the “new hotness” is still fresh at top of mind.  They prime the market, reward alpha gamers who want to be the first in their areas to experience the game, they allow gamers to try before they buy, and they reinforce the role of local stores as centers of the gaming community.  It’s not enough to simply ship a bunch of demo copies in advance.  To run an effective preview event, the demo copy is simply an integral part of a coordinated marketing campaign including: online previews, designer diaries, photo previews, press interviews, social media presence, a build up to a big release, and support for all sales partners beyond the release.  Anything stores and publishers can do to help build excitement and local community is a step toward growing sales. Implemented properly, preview events are an excellent tool for doing just that.

Preview copies are not necessary for all games.  They’re not necessary for most non-standalone expansions, for instance, or even games in a series.  They are most desirable for new titles that are unfamiliar and could benefit from a hands-on introduction.  This especially applies to more expensive titles or ones that are trying to unseat an existing category champion.

Stores and publishers should coordinate preview events as often as they can, refine the format and details based on feedback from previous programs, leverage these special preview opportunities to generate sales, and make previews a regular part of the excitement of enjoying games within your favorite local gaming community.  What are you waiting for?  Get In The Game!

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.